Federal Agency Disaster Event Organizational Psychological Response Plan

Fires, Hurricanes, Floods Tsunamis are environmental catastrophes that can change a person‘s life. Victims of environmental catastrophes are among the homeless populations. These victims may feel feeling powerless and confused, having lost the structure of their daily lives and routines. As a human service professional I may be able to get my client settled in a temporary shelter, get them involved in a support group for emotional support, Food, Clothing Financial aid Housing assistance and education about psychological impact of disaster.

Problems resulting from disasters linger for quite some time after the acute phase in a disaster and victims may have issues arise that they were not aware of initially. Community health nurses are often a primary point of contact for many of these situations and must be prepared for various problems. Sometimes, they are called on to simply reassure the victim that they are not alone in the situation and that help will continue to come. When a nurse allows a victim to discuss their concerns, the nurse can quickly expedite referrals to the appropriate area if it is out of their scope of practice. Occasionally, just having the validation and reassurance from a professional instills hope that things will get better soon. In the situation where the

In the event of a disaster, the community relies upon the public health personnel to evaluate the needs of the community, assess the available resources, provide reliable information, and coordinate health activities. It is essential that local health workers are trained professionals who are reassuring and organized to address health, social, cultural and material concerns of the community. Local health personnel coordinate social services, transportation, available health services, volunteers, outside assistance, public utilities and rescue work (HELP, 1989).

In day to day operations, uncertainties do occur. Henceforth it would be important to have a contingent and well detailed disaster preparedness plan and procedures. Healthcare systems, on a day to day basis, are faced with emergencies in form of disasters. As a result, majority of medical centers have well-structured exit plans in the event of a disaster occurring("Hospital Disaster Preparedness: Your Guide to Getting Started - Emergency Preparedness", 2011). However, this essay will aim at interviewing one of the top disaster preparedness staffat the Houston Methodist Hospital. In the interview, I will seek to identify the top three disasters that the Houston Methodist Hospital is prepared for. Similarly, in the interview, I would seek to identify the top lessons learnt from disaster preparedness at the hospitals.As it concludes it would summarize the findings with regards to the interview stated below. Below is an excerpt from the interview to answer the two aforementioned questions.

and Dentistry and Director of the Program in Disaster Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry and the UR Center for Disaster Medicine and Emergency Preparedness. For over a decade, he has responded to numerous national disasters as a volunteer with the American Red Cross. He has also developed comprehensive disaster mental health training programs for the New York State Office of Mental Health and the New York State Department of Health currently being disseminated throughout every county, state psychiatric center and acute healthcare facility throughout New York State.

Expert first response personnel make all the difference when it comes to saving lives and property; they realize failure is not an option in today’s highly volatile unforgiving world of disaster. Firefighters, police, military, medical as well as any other national/ international first responder are prime examples of people who give tirelessly all that they have, who work twenty-four hours a day, and who often find themselves hip-deep in blood and guts in order to mitigate the situation. These first response veterans aspire to save that one more life; they strive often even at the emotional expense of poorly kept energy reserves to pull people and property from the disaster, but at what cost? Is first response employees

Disaster workers, such as Sam are at a higher risk for chronic stress and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) (Ursano, Fullerton,Vance,

Whenever a disaster strikes an unsuspecting community, from natural weather events like hurricanes and tornadoes to the manmade catastrophes caused by contamination, local community health nurses become a lifeline for stricken victims, providing medical care, basic sanitation, and nutritional sustenance. While treating the ailments of the sick and dressing the wounds of the injured are the chief priorities for any nursing professional, community health nurses typically administer care within a close-knit population group, and this familiarity often requires the offering of spiritual support as well. The immediate aftermath of any major disaster, whether natural or manmade, is a chaotic time when panic, fear, and uncertainty can easily run rampant, and community health nurses must prepare themselves to handle the nonmedical aspects of assisting patients through their recovery. Setting aside one's personal views on organized religion or faith, alleviating a patient's outward symptoms can only be effective to a certain point when they are grieving for the sudden loss of a loved one, or contemplating an uncertain future after their property and

After a disaster, an individuals may feel that they are unable to regain control of their life. The symptoms may be experienced for a long time. This may result in the need to seek professional help. The DSM IV of the APA (2001) describes symptoms or behaviors that may occur. The list includes repeated thoughts or nightmares, trouble sleeping, changes in eating, increased anxiety, intense fear, over-alertness. There can also be overwhelming depression, low energy, memory lapses, feeling “scattered”, numbness, inability to focus. The inability to face the trauma and an avoidance of the event can also be seen.

My bachelor's degree is in psychology, and I have found many lessons learned from psychology to be applicable to emergency management, especially group behavior in disasters.

The connection between the trigger and the problems – Emotion from the media detailing the after effects of Hurricane Katrina has led to assumptions/presumptions at all levels (attendees, event coordinator, and senior management), without relevant data/information which may be the deciding factor to proceed. The event coordinator is thus faced with a risk environment that requires a crisis response within a timely manner.

The burden of emergency management has grown great deal in the last few decades. We have seen an increase in natural disasters, a new threat of terrorism on our front door and an increase in manmade disasters. All of these have tested emergency management in a number of cities and towns across the nation. It is not always disasters that present problems for emergency managers. We have to look beyond our traditional view of emergency management of helping us during times of disasters and view what issues they consider may affect their emergency response. Issues that emergency management see that are moving into the critical area are issues of urbanization and hazard exposure, the rising costs of disaster recovery, and low priority of emergency management.

Data obtained by assessing social vulnerability must be implemented within each phase of the emergency management process; mitigation, response, and recovery. First, to effectively respond and recover from incidents emergency management agencies must concentrate on the mitigation phase to prevent incidents from happening in the first place. This is achieved through a thorough hazard/vulnerability analysis (HVA). This type of analysis assesses the risk of physical, economic, and social vulnerability within all communities of a given jurisdiction (Lindell et al., 2006, p. 165). Additionally, the basis of the HVA allows emergency managers to effectively plan for disaster by creating pre-planned responses to disasters (rather than improvised response) and staging resources to locations with the highest probability of risk; ultimately contributing to the mitigation and response phases.

According to the research of Hannah R. Zulch (Zulch et al., 2012) and after widespread review of the literatures an effective definition for mental health preparedness is suggested. In context of a threatening situations, mental health preparedness can be state of the awareness and expectation of individual’s psychological reactions to the disaster warning. Mental health preparedness will support significantly the ability of identifying particular stress-related emotions and thoughts. This also comprises the perception, appraisal, understanding of threatening event and the risk

When a disaster has taken place, first responders who provide fire and medical services will not be equipped to meet the demands for many services. Several issues such as the number of victims, communication failures and road blockages will stop people from accessing emergency services they have come to expect at a moment 's notice through 911 emergency services. Individuals will have to rely on others for help in order to meet their immediate lifesaving and life sustaining needs. If access is blocked or the agency’s capacity is exceeded, it may be hours or days before trained help arrives. There is a four-phase model that organizes the events of emergency managers. This model is known as the “life cycle” which includes dour